


Nastya and the Warehouse Aurora

by WillowWispFlame



Series: So Sings a Song of Slaughter [12]
Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast), The Mechanisms (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist is a Mechanism, Pre-Canon, The Mechanisms Are Grifter's Bone, The Mechanisms Were The Archivist's College Band, but not yet :), saying goodbye
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-14
Updated: 2020-09-14
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:08:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,101
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26458459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WillowWispFlame/pseuds/WillowWispFlame
Summary: The Mechanisms say goodbye to a band member and a friend.Nastya is returning to their home after her time studying abroad.
Relationships: Nastya Rasputina & The Mechanisms, The Mechanisms Ensemble & The Mechanisms Ensemble
Series: So Sings a Song of Slaughter [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1775218
Comments: 23
Kudos: 116
Collections: So Sings a Song of Slaughter





	Nastya and the Warehouse Aurora

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to [a-aliwond](https://a-aliwond.tumblr.com/) on tumblr for the prompt: before the beginning. This one goes out to those Nastya fans in the comments on the first few fics of the series!
> 
> Lyrics in italics from "[Sleeping Beauty](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mHXEYHC1XI)" by the Mechanisms.

The Mechanisms were saying goodbye.

They were gathered on the nasty, rotting couches, partying in their favorite hangout. The Aurora. 

The Aurora was a small warehouse, owned by Nastya’s host family. It had fallen into disuse years ago, but had been held onto for reasons unknown. Maybe it was more trouble to sell it than to keep it. Whatever the reason, so long as they avoided messing with the antique-filled crates on the other end of the large, empty space, they had the run of the place. 

For now.

Tonight, they loaded the tilted coffee table they had saved from the dump with snacks and drinks. They busted out the amps, bought from a shifty internet salesman with tip money and dreams, and had one last jam session as a full group. 

Jordan started the first few chords, Ben hopping up to sit at his drum set and set a steady beat. Nastya was ready with their viola when Jessica began to sing the first verses. 

“ _ Trapped within the warmth and the darkness, from the waking world I was torn _

_ Never leaving dreamless slumber, in a mind that broken and worn _

_ Guarded by uncounted ready guns and blades _

_ Sharper than a barrier of thorns _ ”

Jon started chugging his drink, and wiped off his mouth as Jessica sang the next verse. He hopped up, the other members having grabbed their various instruments. Alex was on the flute, Kofi joined Nastya on strings with his fiddle, Raph had brought her keyboard, and Basira had plugged her bass into an amp. 

He joined Jess near the front, the two friends grinning in delight as she finished the next few verses. She sang, “ _ But I hope my prince will bring me a sword _ ,” and Ben brought up his sticks and hit the cymbal, crashing into the tempo lift.

That’s when Jon started to sing, a wild look on his face as always at the prospect of falling into the role of his stage character. He spun around to regard Nastya, holding out a hand then pulling it tightly in towards himself in a fist.

“ _ Take Aurora in gently, Nastya, let’s see what these Rosies can do _

_ Gotta say I’m in the mood for violence and I reckon you might be too _

_ Let’s get this party started the only way we know _

_ Gunfire and explosions, that’s our cue _ .”

He ended the verse with a grin as the others cheered. “Hello, ladies,” he said to the empty warehouse, as they all imagined a crowd gathered to listen to their tales. A flock of pigeons, visible through a skylight, took off from the top of the building, as Ben sharply drummed a specially acquired piece of metal in imitation of gunshots and Jon laughed. 

“ _ Fire ‘til your guns are empty, ‘til your ammunition runs dry _

_ If you’re finished playing at soldiers you might have noticed we cannot die _

_ I suggest you beat a fucking tactical retreat _

_ Or we’ll let slip the dogs of war and havoc cry. _ ”

The band members cut away slightly, playing quieter as Nastya lowered her viola and struck up an in person conversation with Jon.

“ _ Is that her? How do we wake her up? _ ” Jon said, slightly out of breath and gesturing to an invisible Briar Rose. 

“ _ You could try kissing her _ ,” they suggested with a smirk. 

“ _ I’m not going to kiss a sleeping stranger, Nastya _ ,” he said, rolling his eyes. “ _ That would be really fucking creepy. _ ”

“ _ Oh, well try your normal plan then. Shoot the machines until they explode, _ ” said Nastya.

“ _ I will! I will do that! _ ” Jon declared, spinning away from Nastya and aiming an imaginary gun at the invisible machines. 

Ben slammed his metal in time with the kickback that Jon mimed, making for a reasonable approximation of him destroying the infernal defense grid’s main processors. 

“ _ What do you know-it worked _ ,” Jon said snidely. Nastya stuck her tongue out at him, and he returned the gesture as the rest of the band returned to their original slower tempo.

Jessica started to sing, Jon quickly harmonizing with her soft tones. 

“ _ Here within the central chamber, circled by the dead, Beauty sleeps _

_ Inching ever closer to freedom, there beyond the glass, still she weeps _

_ Let’s see what surprises the waking world will hold _

_ As gradually consciousness creeps _ .”

Nastya drifted them out with a few last pulls of her bow across their viola’s strings. There was a beat or two of silence before the friends all whooped and hollered as one, cheering for each other. 

“That was great!”

“Probably the best we’ve done so far.“

“People are going to love our sound.”

Nastya gently set their viola into its case, discreetly wiping a few stray tears from the corner of her eyes. Alex was then there with her, wiping his flute down with a clean cloth before slipping it into his own case. He hovered there, and they looked over at him in askance.

“We’re going to miss you, Nastya,” he said, voice heavy. He opened his arms slightly, and she lunged forward to give him a great hug. “If you ever need anything, just let us know,” he said, voice tight from being squeezed. They loosened their grip, and Alex heaved in a quick breath before gripping her shoulder tightly with a grin.

“Thank you,” Nastya said. “I might be heading back home, but we should keep in touch. I need some way to keep practicing my English.”

The others, who had gathered around, laughed with them. 

“Keep in touch,” Jon said. 

“Keep the music going,” Nastya said. “I think you all have something special here, it shouldn’t end with me leaving.”

“We won’t stop,” said Basira. “We’ll stay friends until we annoy the orderlies in the nursing home we’re all sent to, when we sing our old songs too much and they’re forced to separate us for their own mental health.”

They all laughed. 

Later, Nastya let their friends know that her host family would keep letting them use the Aurora, so long as they kept it clean and didn’t mess with the crates. “With how protective he is over those old antiques, you’d think they were haunted,” Nastya said. So as long as they respected his antiques business, they would have a place to play and practice indefinitely. 

Then, like a wrench dropped by an astronaut drifting into the void, Nastya was gone. The band wasn’t the same without her, the Aurora not as satisfying to play in without their friend. They had to keep going without them, of course. They promised not to let the dream of the Mechanisms die.

**Author's Note:**

> Nastya uses she/her and they/them pronouns here :)


End file.
